Robert Covington

The Player Rater is a tool to evaluate the performance of a player with only one number. This is not a perfect tool and will not guarantee victory in fantasy, but this is useful to help improve and evaluate your team.

In each category of scoring, a number is calculated to represent the average total in that category. If a player has the average, his rating in that category is 0.00. The numbers represent how much a player is above or below the average.

If the rating is positive, that player is an above-average fantasy player in that category. If the rating is negative that player is below-average. The sum of all ratings in each category gives us a number (the PR), and then we rank the players accordingly.

I have not included turnovers, as the evaluation in PR is very controversial in my opinion, so if you’re in a league with turnovers, you must keep in mind this.

Russell Westbrook gets triple-doubles so often that I think most fans take for granted the greatness that we are witnessing. Like NBA history making greatness. Last night, Russ picked up the 100th triple-double of his career, as he led the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 16-0 run late in the fourth quarter to seal the victory over the lowly Atlanta Hawks in a game they were supposed to win.

Westy scored 32 points, dropped 12 dimes, and pulled down 12 rebounds to become the third-fastest player to reach the 100 trip-dub mark. Only Oscar Robertson (277 games) and Magic Johnson (656 games) got to number 100 quicker than Russ, who accomplished the feat in just his 736th game. These stats tell me two things: 1) Russell Westbrook is really awesome and we are lucky to be able to witness his greatness and 2) The Big O was friggin’ unbelievable! 277 games? I mean, what? Nikola Jokic better hurry if he wants to even come close to sniffing that kind of epic-ness.

LeBron James, the so called “King,” has played in over 1,000 NBA games and he is not really even that close to 100 triple-doubles (ok, he’s pretty close, but still). I am saying (typing) all of this in an effort to put Westbrook’s greatness in perspective (because I am sensing that he is not getting the kind of love he deserves, most likely because ya’ll jealous of the man’s killer threads and overall sense of style). But anyway, yeah he’s good. Russell Westbrook also only trails Robertson (181), Johnson (138), and Jason Kidd (107) on the career triple-double list and trails only Kidd on the my head’s shaped like a basketball list.

However, since we are a fantasy basketball website I will stop boring you with general NBA history and give you Russ’ final line from last night: 0/32/12/12/1/1. I know, zero threes, what a bum.

Anthony Davis gave all his fantasy owners, and fans of basketball, a scare at the end of last week when he exited with a hand injury. His owner in one of my leagues immediately messaged, “Well, there goes Davis, probably season-ending.” Well, it wasn’t season-ending and he made it back just in time to play on his 25th birthday.

Davis and his fantasy owners were celebrating in style as The Brow put up the rarest of triple-doubles: 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 blocks! Yes, 25 points on his 25th birthday is pretty friggin’ cool, but watching a guy block 10 shots and also hit a three pointer while only turning the ball over 2 times in 40 minutes is just plain amazing. His final line was: 1/25/11/3/3/10. Wow!

I remember this time back in college. A buddy of mine was visiting over Spring Break, and brought a guy that went to school with him. I had a bag of shrooms, a bag of trees, and Die Hard was playing on the tv. ‘Twas looking like a fantastic night. After we puff, puff, passed, and munch, munch, munched….my buddy’s buddy started saying that he wasn’t feeling anything and wanted some more. We advised him that he needed to chill out and let things percolate a bit, but he kept insisting. A few hours later, we found him curled up on a chair in the middle of a room, with a blanket over him, and swiveling himself round and round. My buddy’s buddy was bugging out big time, but that’s what he gets for being impatient. Which segues perfectly to Nemanja Bjelica.

PTS

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

3PT

FG

FT

30

12

2

0

0

2

6/9

11/16

2/2

Prior to last night, Bjelica started four games for the injured Jimmy Butler. He averaged 10 points, 9 boards, 2.5 dimes, and 1.5 steals. Not bad, but not great. Here’s the thing, though. He was playing a ton of minutes. 45, 34, 34, and 33 to be exact. Last night, he played 40 minutes. It was just a matter of time. Remember earlier in the year when Butler was underperforming? Similar deal, in that it took time for things to gel. Anyways, will he be dropping 30/12 every night? Probably not, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility. He has the ability and, most importantly, is going to continue getting a shit ton of minutes.

Anthony Davis is not from this planet. I don’t care what anyone says. What he’s doing on the basketball court is I. N. S. A. N. E. Since Boogie went down….hold that thought….I have the sudden urge to get down. Ha! I miss Soul Train. The Soooooooooooouuuuuulllllllll Train. Ok, back to business. Since Boogie went down due to injury, Anthony Davis has seen the usage rate get to as high as 40%. He has 13 double-dubs in 16 games. He’s gone 40/10 six times and has a 50/10 game during that stretch. Aaaaaaannnnd, he’s averaging close to 3 blocks AND steals. Averaging! But the most impressive and unbelieveable thing is that he hasn’t gotten hurt! Oh boy….I just jinxed him, didn’t I? Do I need to perform a seance? Sacrifice some virgins? What? UPDATE: I swear I didn’t know he left in the second quarter. Anyways, last night AD went:

PTS

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

3PT

FG

FT

41

13

2

3

3

4

4/7

17/31

3/3

I often hear this joke in DFS. No <insert player name>, no cash. Well, if AD stays healthy, you are probably not winning diddly poo this year.

Devin Booker had yet another great scoring performance against the Thunder on Friday night. 6-39-6-8-0-1-5, shooting 16-of-28 from the field in 39 minutes. He also crossed the 4,000 point threshold, becoming the third-youngest player to do so, behind LeBron and KD. Pretty remarkable for a guy that doesn’t get that much attention on a terrible Suns team and this great performance still wasn’t enough to beat OKC last night…Anyway it was another big slate of games on Friday and crunch time is approaching for a lot of fantasy teams, so let’s jump in to the daily notes! Here’s what went down last night in fantasy basketball:

I worked on a trading floor before the Internet Bubble went snap, crackle, and pop. Crazy times I tell ya. I always felt bad for the IT guys, though. They used to get shitted on all day, everyday. It didn’t help that they would say, “Did you turn it off then back on?” I kid. They were a vital cog to the operation because without them, things would cease to function. But dudes on the floor could be ruthless, especially when making or losing money were at stake. The IT guy was always the punching bag. Sound familiar? Isaiah Thomas has had a rough season. He struggled mightily in Cleveland and took much of the brunt for the Cavs’ struggles. Now in LA, things are looking a little brighter, as last night he went:

PTS

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

3PT

FG

FT

29

4

6

0

0

3

6/11

11/20

1/2

He played 30 minutes coming off the bench. Now, Josh Hart did not play due to injury so that gave IT some extra run. With that said, he was getting around 25 minutes of run per game. Around January, I did start writing in the recaps that I was bullish on IT. He was getting the minutes and the shot attempts were there. I just felt like he was getting his legs under him. Let’s not forget that he was recovering from a hip injury. After the trade to LA, I thought it was a pretty good situation for him, as the Lakers like to play free and fast. I just had questions about how many minutes he would get and what the rotations would be. I think we have our answer now. IT is the microwave. Instant offense off the bench. The Lakers with IT on the court have a 114.9 offensive rating, highest on the team. Without him on the court, that number drops to 105.6. Crazy. Granted, it’s only been seven games, but still. He’s getting healthy and is mighty motivated, as he’s essentially playing for a big contract right now.

I loved the Chappelle Show. My favorite episode was The Racial Draft, but right behind was Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories: Rick James. When he first met James, Charlie saw an “orange……auro” around him, as if he were some transcendental god. After getting to know him a bit, he realized that James was “mad niggerish.” He would “walk up to any chick and lick the whole side of their face” then yell, “I’m Rick James, bitch!” I think Rick and LeBron James are the same person, except for the whole “licking the whole side of the face” thing, but…..I don’t know what LeBron is into. Anyways, LeBron has been a trancendental figure in the sport of basketball since he was in high school. He’s a savant on the court, and polished and refined off the court, but when it comes down to it, he don’t take any shit. Last night, he messed around.

PTS

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TOV

3PT

FG

FT

31

12

11

1

0

1

2/4

13/25

3/3

The triple-dub was his 12th of the season. I’m LeBron James, bitch! But, it doesn’t end there. For the month of February (11 games), he AVERAGED a triple-dub: 26.6 points, 10.3 boards, and 10.4 dimes. I’m LeBron James, bitch! But, it doesn’t end there. With last night’s performance, LeBron became the FIRST player in NBA HISTORY to score 30,000 points, dish out 8,000 dimes, and grab 8,000 rebounds. I’m LeBron James, bitch!

What’s up Razzball nation? We’re back with our first edition of Any Given Saturday since the All-Star break and last night was a nice, heavy slate to get us back into things. There weren’t a lot of marquee matchups, but Damian Lillard kept things interesting as he pushed his tired Blazers past the Suns. He went for 40/10/5/1 on 13-for-27 FG (3-for-11 3P, 11-for-15 FT), four TOs and a clean game-winning basket. Dame has been lighting it up recently and could be the type of guy to be the fantasy playoff MVP. Anyways, here’s what else I saw last night in fantasy basketball:

What’s up Razzballers? Anthony Davis went absolutely nutty in a double overtime win over the Nets last night, rainbowing for 44/17/2/6/3 on 16-for-35 FG (3-for-5 3P, 9-for-14 FT) and just three TOs in almost 50 minutes. Losing DeMarcus Cousins is a big blow, in fantasy and in real life, but Davis should be able to ball out in his absence. Anyway, here’s what else I saw last night in fantasy basketball: